The present invention relates to pliers and other apparatus for gripping fish and for enabling removal of a fish hook from or other handling of a fish More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for gripping a fish proximate its lower lip in a manner which forces the mouth of the fish open while minimizing transfer of harmful bacteria to the fish and simultaneously paralyzing the fish so that a hook may be easily removed from the fish's mouth or the fish may be inspected or otherwise affected.
The handling of a fish for the purpose of dehooking or inspecting can be harmful to the fish as well as an individual handling the fish. The fish may be harmfully squeezed or dropped, its protective scales and slime may be inadvertently removed, and extended handling outside of its aqueous environment may harmfully affect its breathing functions. Furthermore, many fish are particularly susceptible to bacterial infection caused by contact with the human hand. Consequently, once a fish is taken captive or otherwise handled, the fish's likelihood of surviving is substantially diminished, even when subsequently released.
As a result, both the sportsman and conservationist alike find it advantageous to minimize handling of a fish. A variety of tools, such as "hook-out pliers", have been developed to enable handling of fish in a manner which minimizes harmful contact between fish and humans. More stringent fishing regulations have also been enacted across the nation in order to preserve fish in the wildlife. Such regulations often restrict the type, size and number of fish caught by fishermen. For instance, in Texas, the size of a landed redfish must be between 20 inches and 28 inches or the fish must be released back to the wild. Unfortunately, as previously discussed herein, even when fish are released back to the wild, they often die due to injuries. Fishermen are, therefore, encouraged to exercise extreme care when they catch fish which are not legal or otherwise are not desired. Such care enables the effectiveness of "catch and release" programs designed to preserve fish. Catch and release programs are, in fact, becoming so popular that designation of certain bodies of water as exclusively for catch and release tyPe fishing is planned by some.
Perhaps the most effective and least harmful of grips for handling a fish is the one-handed grip of the fish's mandible, or lower lip. This one-handed lower lip grip has long been popularized by fishing magazines and programs and is achieved by inserting a person's thumb inside the mouth of the fish and gripping the flesh of the floor of the fish's mouth. This flesh, which is central to the fish's lower jaw and is considered part of the mandible, typically includes a mass of tendons and nerves which cause immobilization of many species of fish, including bass and trout, when compressed between the thumb and forefinger. Such a grip not only minimizes the removal of slime and scales from the fish, but also provides beneficial leverage for removing a hook from the mouth of the fish. Those factors and others make the grip one which minimizes harm to a fish during handling.
Unfortunately, gripping a fish's mandible by hand still subjects the fish to bacterial and other contamination from the gripping hand and can be harmful to the hand, particularly due to punctures caused by the fish-hook (which would also be in the proximity of the fish's mandible) and sharp teeth common in certain species of fish, such as trout and mackeral.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,853, issued to Oye, discloses a pliers-like tool having a transversely extended, cylindrically-shaped anvil portion and a smaller hammer portion to replace the one-handed lower lip grip. However, even though such pliers help to minimize contact between an individual and the fish, the structure that the pliers utilize to approximate the one-handed lower lip grip risks injury to the fish in several respects. First of all, when the pliers of the Oye patent are utilized to prop open the mouth of a fish, the cylindrical anvil bears against the lower surface of the fish's mandible which is typically curved in the opposite direction. As a result, the support provided by that anvil tends to be concentrated along a line transversely oriented across the mandible and throat of the fish, tending to injuriously stress that flesh when the mouth is propped open. In addition, because the jaws of such pliers are capable of completely closing, the flesh of the fish that is gripped by the pliers can easily be crushed or severed when the pliers are being handled by an excited angler or any other individual who does not realize the fragility of that flesh.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which enables gripping of a fish while minimizing contact with the fish. Another object is to provide a fish gripping apparatus which is lightweight, easily totable and operable with one hand for enabling use while fishing, especially when wade fishing. It is also an object of the present invention to enable handling of the fish in a manner which optimally preserves its life, including by minimizing the removal of slime and scales from the fish, by minimizing the need to remove the fish from the water upon capture, and by enabling removal of a hook from the mouth of the fish. It is a further object of the present invention to alleviate problems encountered in previous attempts to enable handling of fish and other handled objects. Many other objects and other information pertaining to the present invention will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing and following descriptions and the appended claims.